Orexin-A Antibody

Orexin-A is a neuropeptide that plays a significant role in the regulation of food intake and sleep-wakefulness, possibly by coordinating the complex behavioral and physiological responses of these complementary homeostatic functions. Orexin-A binds to both OX1R and OX2R with a high affinity, whereas orexin-B binds only to OX2R with a similar high affinity. Defects in orexin-A are a cause of narcolepsy. Narcolepsy is a neurological disabling sleep disorder, characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness, sleep fragmentation, symptoms of abnormal rapid-eye-movement (REM) sleep, such as cataplexy, hypnagogic hallucinations, and sleep paralysis. Orexins are absent and/or greatly diminished in the brain and cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) of most narcoleptic patients.